Too Much or Too Little: Communities Adapt to Extreme Weather Conditions in Odisha

Year 2014

A UNDP partnership with the government of Odisha supported by the Australian Agency for International Development is enabling communities in Puri district to adapt to extreme weather events. As a result of efforts to strengthen community water management systems, crop yield has increased more than three times despite flooding, villages now have piped water supply and incidences of water-borne diseases are declining.

Highlights

UNDP’s partnership with the govt of Odisha and supported by the Australian Agency for International Development is helping communities in Puri in Odisha adapt to extreme weather events

Community water management systems introduced as part of the partnership have increased crop yield more than three times despite flooding

Drainage systems have enabled farmers to start farming earlier in the year

Close to 2,100 hectares of land was cultivated in 2012, more than three times that of 2011 in Bambarada village of Puri

Villages have piped water supply and incidences of water-borne diseases are declining

For people living in the floodplains of the Mahanadi river delta in the Indian state of Odisha, life is one of extremes. For six months in a year (July-December), miles of paddy fields, roads and homes are flooded with water. Three months later, water is in short supply as villagers combat water scarcity, affecting everyday life and crop yields.

As weather extremes become more apparent, three villages in the Satyabadi Block which is about a 30 minute drive from the popular beachtown of Puri, came together to identify their most pressing vulnerabilities and ways by which they could address the misery brought by an increasingly erratic rainfall.

As a first, the villagers identified the need to improve flood-water drainage from their fields. They renovated the Kharbar canal, a 12 km long drainage channel that snakes through the villages of Bambarada and Dokhandapur. Built 30 years ago to irrigate fields, the canal had not been used for a long time. It was cleaned out and reconnected to the river, and its progress was monitored by a committee of farmers. The results have been remarkable.

In an area which receives as much as 1500 mm of annual rain in just 15 days, water now drains out much faster and rice fields no longer remain water logged for months. In 2012, farmers were able to plant the paddy crop a month earlier than expected because water receded much faster from their fields. In the summer months when rain is in short supply, the flow can be reversed providing much needed water for irrigating crops.

The Kharbar canal renovation was part of an adaptive water management project supported by a UNDP and funded by AusAID that aims to build the resilience of poor women and men to climate change and reduce their vulnerability to disasters.

“The drainage system has allowed us to start farming earlier in the year. The possibilities of being able to grow a Rabi crop (summer crop) and easily drain away water has provided us with hope and strength” says 68 year old Kunja Bihari Sahu from Bambarada. Close to 2100 hectares of land was cultivated in 2012, more than three times that of 2011.

In Dokhandapur village, the UNDP-AusAID partnership supported the village in establishing a rain water harvesting pond. Connected to a small filtration plant, piped water is now supplied to the village in an area where the nearest source of clean drinking water was two kilometres away. Better access to clean drinking water will reduce the high incidence of diarrhoea amongst children caused by excessive water logging in the area.

According to Russel Rollason, First Secretary, AusAID “Changing rainfall patterns are forcing villages to change their farming methods and systems. A more holistic community based approach to adaptive water management will help build climate resilience for poor rural communities.”

In nearby villages, communities are improving the quality of water in the village pond by growing vegetables around the pond to prevent the area being used for open defecation. The two adjacent villages now manage the fish pond and garden and in the first 6 months of activities, the villages earned INR 12,000 from the sale of fish and vegetables. The villagers have established a common bank account and the funds are used to buy seed and other necessary inputs to sustain these activities.

Projects and Initiatives

The project, in partnership with the Australian Agency for International Development, aims to address a crucial dimension of vulnerabilities by supporting specific activities to enhance climate change induced risk management capacities (adaptation, disaster mitigation and risk reduction) in districts across flood-prone areas of Odisha and drought-prone areas of Madhya Pradesh.

Photo Essay

Women Adapt to Climate Change in Odisha

The photo-essay shows how a UNDP partnership with the Government of Odisha, supported by the Australian Agency for International Development is enabling women in Puri district in Odisha to adapt to extreme weather events.

UNDP India Blogs

For the poor farmers living in the flood plains of the Mahanadi River delta in the eastern India state of Odisha, the main rice crop is grown in the dry season because extensive flooding and water logging in the monsoon season prevents sowing the rice at the same time as most of India’s farmers. In this region, climate variability is changing the rainfall patterns and the farmers have to adapt.